Článek v ČEŠTINĚ dole (Klikněte na “Read the rest …”)

Do you still remember going to Czech restaurants and pubs with tacky decorations, dirty walls, sticky tables or dirty tablecloths with set in stains? The food from that era was very simple, maybe too oily or salty, but very cheap. In places like this you could find interesting people and an atmosphere that was much different form the one you may experience today. This week you can find a restaurant like this in Prague 3 called “U dvou Hrabalu” on Chelcickeho 14 Street. The restaurant was re-designed to show what Czech or even Slovak pubs used to look like in the eighties or maybe even earlier times. Until Sunday, the visitors have a chance to go back in time to re-live the past that may have already been forgotten.

The decoration of the restaurant is very authentic. You may find some old flyers there that are reminiscent of communist propaganda. You could meet policemen that would repeatedly search through the place to check people’s IDs or to observe their behavior. The behavior of the staff is very authentic as well. You may get a glass of beer way below its half liter mark or diluted by water (but also very cheap) or you could be greeted by moody staff that may make you feel if you are not welcomed there. One of our readers, however, told us that these behaviors can still be found in many Czech restaurants today.

Why would somebody open a business like this? It is not to make the visitors angry but to make them realize how the Czech hospitality services evolved since the last century. The restaurant will be open in this setting ‘till the end of the week. This place, that you may call a “blast from the past” coincides with the Prague exhibitions celebrating the 20th anniversary of the end of the totalitarian regime in the former Czechoslovakia.

VIDEO: Touring Czech Pubs

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Vzpomínáte si ještě, když jste chodili do českých restaurací a hospod s lacinými dekoracemi, špinavými zdmi, lepícími stoly nebo s flekatými ubrusy? Jídla z této doby byla velmi jednoduchá, možná příliš mastná a slaná, ale velmi levná. Takováto místa byla plná zajímavých lidí a atmosféry, která může být velmi odlišná od té nynější. Tento týden si můžete zajít do restaurace v Praze 3 s názvem “U dvou Hrabalů“, na Chelčického 14. Restaurace byla upravena tak, ukázala jak české ale i slovenské restaurace vzpadaly v osmdesátých letech, nebo možná i v dřívějších dobách. Do neděle mohou návštěvníci této hospody cestovat časem a vrátit se do minulosti, která již možná byla zapomenuta.

Výzdoba restaurace je velmi autentická. Můžete zde najít staré plakáty, které připomínají komunistickou propagandu. Můžete také potkat policisty, kteří opakovaně procházejí tímto místem a kontrolují doklady hostů a nebo pozorují jejich chování. Chování personálu je ale také velmi autentické. Tento týden zde můžete dostat sklenici piva hluboko pod mírou a nebo ředěné vodou (ale také velmi levné), nebo můžete být uvítáni náladovým personálem, který vám může dát najevo, že zde nejste vítán. Avšak jeden z našich čtenářů, nám na to řekl, že toto chování lze stále najít v mnoha českých restauracích i dnes.

Proč by někdo otevřel takovou restauraci? Rozhodně to není, aby se návštěvníci urazili, ale aby si uvědomili, jak se české pohostinné služby změnily v porovnáním s minulým stoletím. Restaurace bude otevřena v tomto „nastavení“ až do konce týdne. Toto místo, které můžete nazvat “závanem minulosti” je spojeno s Pražskými výstavami, které vznikly na oslavu 20. výročí konce totalitního režimu v bývalém Československu.

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Článek v ČEŠTINĚ dole (Klikněte na “Read the rest …”)

Readers of CzechFolks.com PLUS have been following a series on what foreign radios broadcasted in last weeks of the totalitarian regime and the early days of the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. As the recent surveys have shown, it was the media and especially foreign radio broadcasts that had a major impact on sharing information with the Czech and Slovak population. This was confirmed by 86% of respondents in the research, which was done early in the autumn of this year by the staff from the Center for Public Opinion Research (part of the Institute of Sociology of the Cs. Academy of Sciences). Miroslav Sigl was invited to the final data presentation from the investigation of a large sample of 1046 respondents from the age of 15 and older.

Sources of information: The vast majority of the public stated that they learned about what happened during the period leading up to November 1989 and in connection with the Velvet Revolution (this name is now common even in scientific circles, literature and media) mainly from radio and television broadcasts, and from newspapers. Other sources of information were the works of art, film and literature over the past twenty years, then stories by eye-witnesses, survivors and personal experience. Respondents who were 15 to 29 years were mostly informed through schools.

Why the Velvet Revolution happened? Most citizens replied that the totalitarian communist regime before November 1989 had run out its invitation, was discredited, people had enough of the ”party and government control,“ of the communist class, not just at the tip of power, but also in regions, districts, and various institutions etc. Standardization of leadership would have had to be reformed and would have had to denounce its past and some folly (41% of respondents), a further 17% report that there was a desire for freedom and democracy, to eliminate totalitarianism, freedom, to live, do business, and travel. Another 13% thought of the “collapse of the Eastern bloc, dominated by the Soviet Union,” the Gorbachev reforms, and what was happening in neighboring countries. Only then others also included economic reasons, activities of dissent, destruction of communism in Europe and the restoration of capitalism.

Was it a revolution or reform of the communist system? 61% of respondents believed that there was an aim for a revolutionary change in the communist system, while 28% were inclined to the view that it was reformed - the rest does not know. The Velvet Revolution was, for two-thirds of respondents, a movement of the society, however, less than a third believed that it was a result of the activities of dissident groups. This is what the fans of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia believe, as well as the Social Democrats and seniors.
Clearly it was felt that the Velvet Revolution had a dominant political nature (74%), less than a one fifth (18%) believed that the objectives of this act were due to economic changes.

Was the regime “defeated” by a revolution or collapsed by itself? The major belief (53%) is that it was a real revolution, and less than two fifths of respondents thought that the communist regime collapsed itself. The Velvet Revolution was a nationwide movement, and therefore was not an exclusive matter of dissident groups. This is confirmed by answers to another question How the change of the regime was supported? By the majority of the nation - was a decisive response.

Were the post-November acts justified? The questions were mostly related to restitutions of private properties and the lustration law. Two-thirds of the Czech public considered restitutions of small family property fair, while less than a quarter thought the opposite. Also, half of the respondents believed that the lustration law was considered justified. They knew well that the so-called “lustration laws” brought about a good effect both in the international position of our country and in the situation in the state administration and of course the essence of democracy itself. With regard to their validity, 34% said that they should continue to use these laws and about the same amount of people believe that although they were necessary at the moment of its inception, they are no longer required. However, concerning the restitution of large estates, there were equal opinions about this issue. Two fifths expressed their opposition to the deregulation of prices and more than a half (54%) considered a coupon privatization as unfair. People older than 60 years old evaluate these issues more critically.

Do people today live better lives than before 1989? The majority of Czech citizens (45%) believed that today things are better. Another third had an ambivalent attitude and the rest did not know or thought that the situation before 1989 was better (14%). Certain differences relate to people who were persecuted during the twenty years of the last century. People whose close relatives were affected by the normalization of the communist regime, were convinced that things are better today. Only the current Communist Party supporters saw the situation in the opposite view. Most of the Czech population today, however, value free access to information, the ability to travel, freedom to do business and freedom of speech, relationships to culture, living standards and personal well-being. They see problems in the social field, such as employability, a sense of social security, and the lack of security at an old age.

How do people evaluate changes in the political system in the country? It was interesting to see that even the Communists did not evaluate the previous regime equally, only 12% found the old regime as “very good.” Most critical were people of middle age, people with higher education. People under 30 years of age had inconclusive opinions. While in a similar survey in October 1999 – i.e. 10 years ago – 56% believed the system after 1989 was better, ten years later this proportion increased to 69%. That means that 85% of Czechs believe that the restoration of the communist regime is not likely going to happen; over the past decade the proportion of those who did not wish the communist regime to return were around 80%. Only 10% of respondents willingly agreed with the return of communism or did not know how to respond.

Who informed Miroslav Sigl about this data? The information was passed along by the young staff of the Institute of Sociology and the Center for Public Opinion Research, headed by Jiří Vinopal that implemented empirical investigations in further cooperation with other departments and published their data in the magazine Our Society, and from a project that was initiated to inform about the status of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia in the political system after 1989. The answers were mostly given by Daniel Kunstat, Jan Cervenka, Paulina Taberyova and Michal Veselsky - mostly graduate political scientists, educated in sociology, economics, demography, the media and public policy issues. They will face many other new challenges that will be related to the monitoring of the attitudes of the Czech public.

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Česká verze zde

Článek v ČEŠTINĚ dole (Klikněte na “Read the rest …”)

Author: Miroslav Sígl (CzechFolks.com PLUS)

I did not realize how much attention the encyclopedia “Who was and who is” (of Melnik, Kralupy and Neratovice, a region with a total of 76 municipalities) would get. The encyclopedia was published in 2008 by Libri Praha. In its 640 pages one can get to know more than two thousand people. As compatriots they lived or still live, worked or still work abroad. It is commendable that one still remembers them and that many of our towns, villages, schools, institutions or businesses continue to be in contact with them and are met with interest when they visit their native places. Our Czech Institute of Foreign Affairs in Prague pays them great attention, but also the press of foreign countrymen. I briefly mention some of the significant among them, their story is generally very interesting and their remarkable life deserves further interest from the public. Some names are missing some biographical data, I shall welcome (as well as the publisher) any further comments or additional information.

Jiří Havelka, Ing. (*31. 1. 1882 Přibyslavice in Kutná Hora, †8. 3. Obříství 1959), an agricultural entrepreneur. He came from an old 18th century peasant family (his father Václav Havelka (1850 - 1931), cultivated land in the region of Čáslava and Kutná Hora). Jiří graduated from the College of Agriculture in Vienna and after World War II he bought what was left of the original estate of the owners of the Tranttmannsdorf family in Obříství. There he soon was among progressive farmers, public officials, but also became renowned as a great benefactor: helping the local Sokol to build a football and a volleyball court. In 1938 he donated a castle to the community, to enable the foundation of a Jubilee school called Svatopluk Čech. He also provided his land free of charge for the purpose of horse riding lessons for the whole district of Mělník. He was instrumental in the development of horse riding helping to make it into a sport and also organized peasant rides with horses. His son, Ing. Libor Havelka (1912 - 2000), married a daughter of the family of the sculpturer Václav Platzer and after 1948 immigrated to Australia where he established a company that grew and designed a variety of ornamental trees for homes. Today, the farm is managed by his son Igor Havelka (*14. 11. 1943), whom, during restitution proceedings in 1993, received the castle property, where the mentioned school was located, as well as extensive lands and forests.

Johanna Herzogenberg (*1921 in Sychrov near Turnov), a publicist. She spent her youth in Ústí nad Labem, she studied philosophy in Prague, but after the Second World War she was persecuted in Prague. Although she was German, she spoke perfect Czech. In her book, From My Life (published in German and Czech) she described her life in Přívory, where she was sent to work as a German citizen. Since the sixties, she cooperated with Radio Free Europe in Munich, she published in Czech and German press and also wrote about Jan Palach.

Augustin Herman (*1621 Mšeno near Mělník, †1686 Bohemia Manor, USA), the first known Czech settler in America. As the son of the last evangelical priest from Mšeno, he left the country during the period of the Thirty Years War and persecutions of non-Catholics. He spoke several languages and became a personality of New York in 1647 and a member of its Management Board. He was the author of the first map of Virginia and Maryland from 1670 and for this work he claimed the land, which he called Czech Estates - Bohemia Manor. He was the first to introduce the cultivation of indigo in America (blue dye found in the roots of a plant that was initially used to manufacture inks and fabric dyes), he owned his own shipping company and his trades with fur and tobacco made him famous. He was very proud of his home country, and as a matter of principal he added to his name a Latin term Bohemiensis. Based on the recent historical research there are some doubts about his native place. In Mšeno Cinibulkova Street there is a commemorative plaque from 1935 mounted on the house where he was born (which was donated to the town by Romanov association).

Heřman Chromý  (*29. 9. 1947 Prague), a politician and a poet. In high school, he studied economics and then foreign trade and economics at the University of Blagoevgrad (Bulgarian Vraca). He lived in Mělník from 1970 until 2002. In the 1970s he organized banned cultural programs in the House of Youth (along with Miloslav Fuxa and Margaret Hánlová), translated to English as Dinners Under the Candle (Vecery pod svickou). He also worked with the Cultural Center District, Masaryk Cultural House and Mělník Gallery in the Tower. With Vladimír Libal, Vojtěch Lindaur and others he staged programs about a rock musician Frank Zappa; in addition to private performances he attended events with many songwriters and rock bands (Josef Nos, Petr Lutka and others). In 1986 he was sentenced to two years imprisonment for sedition under the so-called poetic, journalistic and political activity. In August 1989 the Secret Police of Mělník launched another preliminary investigation. In 1982 he signed the Charta 77 and in 1988-1990 he published a biweekly journal called Information about the Charta 77 (Infoch) along with Petr Uhl and Anna Sabbath. In 1988 he participated in the foundation of the John Lennon Peace Club (1940 - 80), founded in honor of the British rock singer and strong artistic personality. The club refused discrepancies between verbal proclamations of peaceful coexistence and opposing acts of then government officials. Heřman also wrote poetry and these are some of his collections: A Long Chanting Citizen (1978), The Boy Rock (1980), Pork Tenderness (1982-1985), Public Accidents (1984-85), Our Landlord God (1985-86). All collections were published in the samizdat edition of Ivan and Václav Havel Edition Expedition, which Ivan Martin Jirous (*23. 9. 1944 Humpolec) prepared for publication. Some poems have been translated into Dutch (in 1990 he received, along with Petr Cibulka and Václav Havel, the Literary Prize Erasmus, Rotterdam) and into Persian. At the turn of the seventies and eighties he won awards in various poetry competitions - including two top awards at the highest award in the Wolkerův Prostějov competition. In January 1990 he was co-opted into the Federal House of Nations Assembly, in the same year he was elected into the Czech National Council, where he briefly worked in the CNR and the Bureau of Prisons; he also became chairman of the Club of members of the parliament of the Civic Forum. In 2004 he participated in a chain of hunger strikes for the resignation of the former Czech Prime Minister Stanislav Gross (born 1969) and supported many initiatives to eliminate activities of the Communists under the illegally contradictory name of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia. Since 1995 he worked at the State Department, in the diplomatic service in Bulgaria (1995 - 98), Romania (1998 - 2002) and since 2005 in Belarus.

Eduard Ingriš (*11. 2. 1905 Zlonice, †12. 1. 1991 Lake Tahoe, California, USA), a composer. He graduated from grammar school and taught first in Líbeznice and then Dolní Počernice, but gradually he became a broadly talented artist – a musician, pianist, film and stage actor, composer, songwriter. Soon after he appeared in theater and opera, composing some 1000 tunes. Reasonable Mirror was played in the John Snížek theatre, portraying Ingriš’s music, 1600 times in five consecutive years. He had a weekend house by Svatojanské currents on the river Vltava, several of his friends visited him: including Hašler Karel (1879 - 1941), R. A. Dvorský (1899 - 1966), Jan Werich (1905 -1980), Jiří Voskovec (1905 - 1981) and Jaroslav Ježek (1906 - 1942). It was also a place where a large number of his unforgettable tramp songs were born. Before Christmas 1947 he left to tour the U.S., but after 1948 his Czechoslovak passport was no longer valid, so he decided to remain abroad. He lived in Brazil for a while, but for a while he “dropped anchor” in the South American country of Peru on the land of Indians that received him warmly. He became a conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Peru in Lima and made five blockbusters there. At the age of 42 he set out on a dangerous journey through the river Amazon that lasted nine years, where he collaborated with a Norwegian seaman Thor Heyerdahl (1914 - 2002). In 1962 he settled in Los Angeles, married an excellent Czech-Russian singer Nina Karpuškinová, worked in radio and television, made records and staged concerts. When he died, the memorial Mass was held in his native Zlonice, which was attended by the Peruvian Government and representatives of the Embassy of Peru from our country. His urn was placed in the Memorial of Antonín Dvořák in Zlonice.

Klementina Kalašová, used her artist name Callas (*9. 9. 1850 Horní Beřkovice, †13. 6. 1889 Bahia, now San Salvador), a phenomenal mezzo-soprano and alto singer. She had an explosive career and went on numerous foreign tours (Prague, Milan, London, St. Petersburg, USA, Brazil), which ended after her sudden death. Her sister, Marie (*26. 11. 1854 Horní Beřkovice, †17. 2. 1937, Prague) was devoted to translating, as well as her writing her own literature. With another sister - painter Zdeňka she purchased a house in Prague (Úvoz), where the famous photographer Josef Sudek (1896 - 1976) later lived. For many years, in the first third of the 20th century, the sisters organized a renowned literary salon. In the summer seasons, Marie stayed several times in Veltrusy, she knew Jaroslav Vrchlický and another poet, playwright and writer Julius Zeyer (1841 -1901).

Zikmund Karásek (* 21. 2. 1917 Mělník), a career soldier, a participant of foreign resistance. Graduate from the School of Air and Fighter Aviation Regiment in Prague. In 1939 he emigrated through Poland to France and England, where he was admitted to the British RAF Royal Air Force and then joined the 312th Czechoslovak Fighter Wing. As a result of a heart defect, diagnosed in 1942, he worked as an aviation instructor and translator of technical aviation manuals. After returning home in 1945 he demobilized, but soon left for England where he married, lived on the Isle of Man, then in Belgium, Paraguay and then travelled via Venezuela to the State of Arkansas (USA), where he settled permanently. He manufactured shoes, sculpted figures from sheet metal and devoted himself to optics. After November 1989 he visited the Czech city Mělník.

Jan Karafiát (*4. 1. 1846 Jimramov, †31. 1. 1929 Prague), a priest and a teacher. He worked in many places (Köln, Edinburgh, Čáslav, Hrubá Lhota in Wallachia). In the years 1870 to 71 he lived in Roudnice nad Labem, where he worked as an evangelical priest and often attended evangelical choirs in Ledčice and Krabčice. During his stay in Roudnice, he wrote a book Master Jan Hus, and began to consider writing a book for children. His book Broučci about small beetles significantly affected the development of Czech children’s literature (first published in 1876 and since then there have been almost 100 editions). From 1895 he lived in Prague and published Reformni listy (Reform newspaper) until 1905. He was also involved in the revision of Kralická Bible, and he summed up his valuable testimony about his life and his writings in Memoirs of the author of Broučci (five parts in the years 1919 - 1928).

Knobloch Ferdinand, doc. MD. CSc. (*15. 8. 1916 Prague, †? Canada), a psychiatrist and psychotherapist. He finished University studies after World War II and after returning from a concentration camp, where his wife (Susan Hartmanová) died of typhoid in 1944. He participated in London University placements in British hospitals, trying to put into practice a theory of psychoanalysis with Sigmund Freud (1856-1939, a neurologist and psychiatrist of a Czech origin) and became a pioneer of group therapy in Europe. He started to apply the therapy in a daily sanatorium for neuroses in Prague (known Palata) and in a newly established Psychiatric Hospital in Lobeč (in a castle which was nationalized in 1954). His views and methods (e.g. described in two publications Methodological Analysis of Psychoanalysis and Neurosis) caused disputes with the communist power and ideology. Yet he was still appointed as secretary of a section of the World Psychiatric Association in 1967 and organized several workshops in the world. In 1968 he founded a Czechoslovak company for integrated psychotherapy and psychoanalysis, presided over the International Congress on psychodrama in Austria and lectured at universities in the U.S. In 1970 he immigrated to Canada, where he, with his second wife Jiřina (born Skorkovská), wrote the world-famous book Integrated Psychotherapy (Czech edition only since 1993).

František Kovárna, PhDr. (* 17. 9. 1905 Krpy - at that time belonged to the District of Mělník, †19. 6. 1952 New York, USA), a teacher, translator, and writer. He graduated from the Philosophical Faculty of Charles University, since 1935 he was an associate professor at the Institute of the History of Art at Charles University. He also was a member of an editorial group for Otto Encyclopedia and a leading collaborator of a monthly magazine Kriticky mesicnik, Kmen, Host and Volne listy. He published, in rapid succession, a series of monographs of modern Czech art, the work of current painting (Soucasne umeni) - first in our country, focused in the direction of the modern art and ism. In 1947 he became a professor of aesthetics at a newly established Faculty of Charles University, stood in the forefront of the struggle for freedom of culture, as evidenced by his controversial articles from that time. In 1948 he was deprived of a chair post, excluded from the Syndicate of Czech writers, and in April the same year he moved with his family into exile. First, he lived in Germany (there he was a professor at Masaryk halls in Ludwigshafen), then in France (he published a newsletter in French and a Czech literary magazine called Stopa “A Trace”). Since October 1951 he settled in New York. He escaped the same fate as that of Marie Horáková, who was convicted to death in an illegal process on 8. 6. 1950 (in the same process he was also sentenced to death in absentia – the first sentence was abolished in 1990 and resulted in a residual penalty of 15 years of hard labor and in 1993 it was repealed in its entirety). The same year he received an honor in memoriam by order of the TGM. In the U.S., he founded an amateur theater, for which he wrote the drama Pulnoc nad Prahou (Midnight in Prague), contributed with essays to Svobodny zitrek (Free Tomorrow) and Zpravodaj cs. Emigration (a Newsletter of Czechoslovakian emigration). He was always engaged in efforts to restore democracy in Czechoslovakia. To his literary works belong novels O zivote s smrti (About life and death, sometimes also called Alive and Dead), Bojacni a rvac (Fearful and Brawler), a book of essays Listy mrtvemu priteli (Sheets to a Dead Friend) and large numbers of critical studies about the Czech art and its place in the European traditions and presence.

To be continued…

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Česká verze ZDE

Translated to English by (Překlad do angličtiny): Martina Roe, Daniela Olszová a Paul Nelson

Článek v ČEŠTINĚ dole (Klikněte na “Read the rest …”)

Author: Josef Cermak (CzechFolks.com PLUS)

The garden of his soul

The Pilsen monument is today known as the Meditation Garden of Luboš Hruška (the author of a book on the monument and its creator, Irena Kastnerová, named her book “Luboš Hruška and the garden of his soul”). It is also known as “The Monument to the Victims of Evil.” Originally, it was planned by its creator as a monument to the victims of communism. This is what he wrote about communism in January, 1998: “Even today we still don’t know all the catastrophes caused by communist power in the world. Tens of millions dead and mentally or physically marked, thousands of disrupted families, a ruined environment, crippled economy, but worst of all, sick human souls.

Those are the results of a few decades of communist rule.” And he “did experience on his own body the searing sting of ‘bejčák’” (the deadliest kind of truncheon). But then he realized (there was political pressure as well) “that imprisoned with us were countless heroes of the second world war, some of whom had already fought in the first world war and others in the third resistance movement, and changed the name to ‘the Monument to the Victims of Evil‘. And it is also a monument to the three young Americans who came to liberate Pilsen, and then were buried in the Japanese sea.”

But back to the story. In the spring of 1948 - not long after the communist coup d’etat - Hruška, with other young men of his class, graduated as lieutenants. Only a year later he decided to leave his country. On October 31st,, he travelled by train to Černá in Šumava, and walked in the twilight towards the border. Just about a hundred meters from his goal he was captured by two border guards and their dog. He was arrested and taken to a prison in Spilberg, where he witnessed the inhumane beating of a fellow-prisoner. There he also learned that every prisoner caught in an attempt to escape the prison is first beaten almost to death and then forged into chains… From Spilberg Hruška was taken to the infamous Pankrác prison, where he was sentenced, less than two months after being arrested, to 18 years of hard prison. But at Pankrác he also had an experience which changed his life: “I knew that the absolute punishment was averted but I had no idea what was coming.

And at that point I saw coming towards me a diminutive man in a brown frock, girded by a white cord, with a shaved circle on the top of his head, greeting me with a smile, open arms and his heart in his palm - Father Ondřej (civilian name Karel Frgal), the head of the smaller Franciscan brothers monastery in Sokolov. Shortly before me, Father Ondřej was sentenced for treason and espionage to fifteen years of hard prison. Only later did I realize that this was my first meeting with Christ”. It was the beginning of the road, at the end of which the atheist Luboš Hruška found God. The beginning of the road which led from Pankrác to Bory, Opava, Leopoldov, Ruzyň and Bytíz (where he met František Otta from Rakovník, later the moving spirit behind the erection of a monument to the victims of communism in Toronto). The beginning of the road which led to the monument to the victims of communism in the form of a cross, to the garden of his soul, in Pilsen.

The spot where the garden is located used to be a lovely orchard, planted some twenty years earlier by Luboš’s father, who gave it to his son to do with it as he pleased. To create his monument, Luboš was forced to cut down some ninety trees. Then he learned everything he needed, to choose plants, to plant them, prune and shape them. And he learned it well. This is how Irena Kastnerová describes his garden: “It is difficult to say what makes the place so overwhelmingly charming. It presents hundreds of picturesque views, constantly changing during the passing seasons as well as in a single day. Its beauty is composed of conifers of manifold shades of green, velvety lawns, tiny water lily-covered lakes inhabited by red-scaled fish, and numerous exotic trees and bushes of grotesque shapes, each of which was planted, pruned, shaped and tended by Luboš Hruška’s loving hands. Aside from the natural elements …the “magic garden” is populated by a dozen sculptures, ingeniously situated in the verdure.” The sculptures, fourteen stops in twelve sandstone sculptures symbolizing Calvary, were created by Roman Podrázský. After the completion of the Chapel of St. Maxmillian Kolbe on the garden’s lands, Hruška donated the whole complex to the Bishopric of Pilsen.

One of the visitors to the garden (Jirka from Liberec) left this message: “You have a magnificent soul and Mister - you who have all this on your conscience - smell sweet of humanhood.”

Memorial in Ottawa

Two years ago, the Czech and Slovak Day in Toronto-Scarborough was attended by a member of the Canadian Federal Government, Jason Kenney. During the opening ceremonies, Mr. Kenney stood next to the ambassador of the Czech Republic, Pavel Vošalík, close to the monument to the victims of communism “Crucified Again“, erected by the Club of Czechoslovak Political Prisoners (the leading initiator of the project was František Otta, Luboš Hruška’s fellow-prisoner in Bytíz). Mr Kenney looked at the monument and after a while remarked to ambassador Vošalík: “Too bad, this monument doesn’t stand somewhere where more people could see it.”

Ambassador Vošalík agreed and the idea of a memorial to the victims of communism in Ottawa was born. Mr. Vošalík invited to Ottawa Zuzana Hahn, a talented artist and organizer in Toronto. Mrs. Hahn, who runs a charitable organization Hearts Open Toronto, formed - with Sokol Canada and Dare Theatre - a working group, Open Books Group (OBG) and organized several highly successful meetings of a dozen ethnic groups (the Czech and Slovak Association was represented by Blanca Rohn and Radmila Locher). Later, several members of the group separated and formed an entity called Tribute to Liberty (TTL). The two groups jointly submitted an application to the National Capital Commission (NCC), which approves (or rejects) proposals for the erection of memorials and structures on government lands in Ottawa. The application stated that OBG “should play a leading role in planning and executing fundraising events, as well as the project in its entirety.” The Application was considered by the NCC board of directors at its meeting on September 10, 2009. The board was prepared to approve the project but was not happy about its name, suggesting that the memorial should be dedicated to the victims of every suppression. Some members asked that the word “communism” should not form part of the name at all, because Canadians, sympathizing with communism, might see its inclusion as excessively critical (Luboš Hruška was familiar with this argument). Two leading Canadian dailies - “The Ottawa Citizen” and “National Post” - covered the meeting fairly intensively (and were not particularly complimentary about some of the comments). Their stories created a massive reaction from the readers, which most likely influenced the board to arrange two telephone conferences with representatives of the two applicants. In the end, the NCC board approved the proposal with the name “Memorial to the Victims of Totalitarian Communism - Canada, Land of Refuge“.

In the next few weeks, artists across Canada will be invited to submit their ideas. In the meantime our two groups will try to raise enough money to build the monument. All monies raised by our group will be deposited into a special account and used - except the costs of fundraising - for building a memorial to the victims of totalitarian communism in Ottawa.

I don’t think it’s likely that we will succeed in creating a second Meditation Garden in Ottawa. Groups usually lack the lyricism of individuals of the Luboš Hruška clan. We shall be satisfied if we build a memorial, reminding this and future generations of the sacrifices in life, souls and property to the extent we don’t often encounter even in history as bloody as that left behind by the descendants of Adam and Eve. I hope that we - who perhaps only from a distance and indirectly - in the lives of our families and friends - tasted the bitter fruits of communist power, will contribute a few coins (a tax of honor) for building a monument in Ottawa in memory of their sacrifices too. The first opportunity will be the Gala evening, Voices within Walls, in the Great Hall in Toronto, on November 26th. Hope to see you there.

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October 28th is a memorable day in the history of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. This year, this day marked the 91st anniversary of the establishment of the independent Czechoslovak state. There were many ceremonies happening on this date all over the world, thus the experience below described by Ladislav Krivanek is just one of many that numerous Czech and Slovak compatriots could experience during this celebration. Did you attend one? Just let us know or learn about a unique concert in Canada or the artists below.

Video: Felix Slovacek

On the eve of a national holiday in the Czech Republic, the Montreal Consulate of CR organized a unique concert of the pianist Boris Krajný and Felix Slováček, the clarinet and saxophone-player. This outstanding concert took place in the beautiful hall of the historic Bon-Pasteur Chapel, which has superb acoustics, and due to it’s size it does not require any sound system. Mrs. Jaroslava Jeslínková, Consul General, cordially greeted all the guests by the door, and in the opening ceremony she welcomed all the audience and all the diplomats of other countries. In both official Canadian languages (English and French), she reminisced about the history and progress of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic from 1918 until today, when CR was presiding over the EU for six months.

This concert satisfied even the most demanding members of the audience. In the compositions from the 17th up to 21st century were works by Carl Stamitz, Johann Sebastian Bach, Alessandro Marcello, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Zdeněk Fibich, Bedřich Smetana, Artie Shaw, Claude Debussy, Fryderyk Chopin, Darius Milhaud, Manuel de Falla, Ronald Binge, Jaroslav Ježek, Ennio Morricone, and others. It was more than obvious that all the audiences in other Canadian cities were or will be highly delighted with the concert as many people were in Montreal, because it could only be described as superlative. Their next concert, for example, will be at University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada on Nov 1st, at 3 PM.

Almost everybody knew about the superior quality of Boris Krajný’s execution, as one of the world’s most distinguished pianist, who visits Canada quite often. However, we had a chance to see Felix Slováček in Montreal for the first time. He surprised even those who knew him forty years ago, by playing classical music. The consonance of a piano with the clarinet and saxophone delivered a really magical intonation to all the musical pieces. The audience rewarded both artists after each composition with thunderous applause, and with many standing ovations after the concert, thus we could enjoy some more beautiful encores.

I was very sorry for not bringing my video camera to capture those magnificent moments, as it would be a memory for a lifetime. The concert was ensued by the banquet where the members of an audience could meet both artists. Our whole-hearted thanks to Mrs. J. Jeslínková, Consul General, and to Czech consulate for this magnificent event.

Photographs for CzechFolks.com © Michel Karpoff

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Melodies that bring a smile to your face, clever lyrics and recitation “charged” with a peculiar charm - no wonder that the compatriots in Australia evaluated a concert by Peter Nagy as one of the coolest they have ever experienced here.

Again, I had an opportunity to participate in the implementation of the Melbourne tour, organized in October in Sydney Australia by, as usual, an impresario Peter Vitek. Unlike singers Karel Gott, Helena Vondráčková, Marta Kubišová, and Olympic that we presented to Czech and Slovak viewers living in Australia in the past ten years, a Slovak singer Peter Nagy is not as known in the former exile since the beginnings of his artistic track dates from 1983.

Yet the Melbourne concert was sold out. The third and the newest wave of emigration filled the hall of the National House to the last inch. Among the spectators, however, we could find fans that emigrated in 1968 or even 1948 years old. Many of the respectable visitors were in fact members of the wonderful Slovak community that came to support their successful singer. Peter Nagy, however, is truly a “Czech – Slovak” singer. In 1985 he even managed something that only a few could do – to “steal away” the Golden Nightingale from the mighty Karel Gott. With his band called “Indigo” he recorded 19 albums throughout his twenty-five years of his existence. Many of his songs became the best-selling titles on the music market.

The Australian concert halls experienced many of Nagy’s hits and the audience enthusiastically sang along with lyrics that they knew by heart. The audience was actually composed of a wide spectrum of fans - from six-year-old children all the way to a 91 years old fan that still remembered performances by Voskovec and Werich but also admired Peter Nagy’s ability to entertain the audience.

Nagy is one of a few singers that can perform for two hours, while playing on guitar, entertaining audiences with his observations and jokes, but he can also write his own music and lyrics. It is indeed a rare curiosity, which is only realized by a few talented musicians, whether Czech, Slovak, or from other parts of the world. Moreover, Nagy’s songs are always unique. The Australian “one-man-show” by Peter Nagy was a remarkable combination of rapid pop rock hits - Profesor Indigo, Marcel z malého mesta, Láska je tu s nami, S nohami na stole, Aj tak sme frajeri, Sme svoji, Podme sa zachrániť, So mnou nikdy nezostarneš - to thoughtful and favorite songs - Kristínka iba spí, Máš čo máš, Psi sa bránia útokom… a commendable part of the singer’s repertoire also includes charming songs for children that do not go to puerility but bring in substantial life values to these young souls..

This was evidently visible at his concerts from stormy reactions of Sydney students – that were obviously grew up listening to his tracks. Perhaps this new generation still remembers the words from one of his popular children’s songs, where Nagy brings up one of the worst human traits - envy – A dung-beetle rolls the ball / other beetles observe from the corner of their eyes / They have no idea what it is, but are envying him terribly / Envy is short-sighted … / The rest is somewhere that we read in history / That envy is still stupid and never makes any sense.

Peter Nagy, an artist in his body and soul, is not only a musician but also an excellent photographer. He says that a good photograph is like a good singing performance that should be continuously practiced. He passionately photographed everything during his tours of Australian cities. When I wondered what he was shooting, he answered that he is capturing the moods of the city. He also likes nudity. He says that the female beauty must be natural. His pictures are full of poetry and imagination. They abound in his new album “Labutě a Havrany” (Swans and Ravens) on which he adheres to the core of his song: - I built a tower / of the cornerstones of my years / it’s time to be well above the matter / It is difficult not to go crazy / if everybody goes two hundred / smashed by advertisements… Apparently, Nagy has more than enough inspiration for new tunes and witty lyrics.

A charismatic man, who charmed countrymen in Australia, appeared youthful and well balanced – by April he gathered exactly fifty (as mentioned above) “stones.” He still sees everything optimistically from his “tower” and all Australian “Folks from Downunder” wish him all the best.

Photographs for CzechFolks.com © Barbara Semenov a Patrik Nemes

The article by Barbara Semenov was translated by Daniela Olszová and Paul Nelson

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This is the title of a social event that is taking place in Prague. Some of you may think it is an ironic title since the Communist party rules in the current Czech Parliament; however, the event is reminiscent of the communist era of the last century, when both countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia were united as Czechoslovakia and the country was “sheltered” by the powerful Iron Curtain. The event itself is directed to the public of all ages; however, the major contributors to the event are in fact children and young adults that did not live during this era in Czech and Slovak history.

So how can such a young group bring this past back to today’s century? The organizers of this event hoped that this will be an easy-to-learn project for children to learn about communism. Today’s textbooks don’t describe what happened in our country after World War II and many adults don’t want to bring this sensitive subject back to our conscience. Children are, however, trying to learn from their parents and teachers so they can imagine what it used to be like to live in a country that oppressed every Czech or Slovak citizen in many aspects of their lives.

The project, which is almost coming to its end, consists of speeches and public presentations, a fashion show, an exhibition that describes the totalitarian regime through the children’s eyes, and a concert with performances of various rock bands that were prohibited or somehow contributed to the fight against this regime during communism.

The fashion show is the one that caught our attention since the outcome of this project did not really make its statement “not fitting to today’s century.” As you may know, every fashion trend is coming back and the trends that were popular during the totalitarian regime are coming back as well. The young fashion students that contributed to this fashion show were pleasantly surprised that our fashion era of the last century was not as “gray” and as boring as they thought. They also found many aspects of these trends in today’s fashion malls and boutiques and were able to connect with this period of the “distant” past.

But the fashion show was not the main purpose of this initiative. The students had the opportunity to talk to their parents, grandparents and teachers about what it used to be like to live in the communist Czechoslovakia. They learned about their lives from different perspectives than just looking at political events to find out about the economic situation, consumer trends, social events and lifestyle, morals, values and more.

The concert, the final piece of this event, will take place on November 13th, 2009 at 7 pm at Kulturni centrum Vltavska, Praha 7 which will consist of bands of various backgrounds: Vladimir Misik, Nasrot, GARAGE, FPB, Michael’s Uncle, Vlasta Tresnak, and Tony Duchacek.

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To je název společenské akce, která se koná v Praze 7. Někteří z vás si mohou myslet, že je to ironický název, protože komunistická strana v současné době vládne v Parlamentu České republiky, ale tato akce připomíná komunistickou éru minulého století, kdy obě země Česká republika a Slovensko byly sjednoceny do jednotné země, Československa, a byly “chráněny” mocnou železnou oponou. Tato událost je sama o sobě zaměřena na veřejnost všech věkových kategorií, ale ve skutečnosti na ní zásadně přispívají dětí a mládež, kteří vlastně nežili během tohoto období české a slovenské historie.

Takže jak může taková mladá skupina přivést tuto minulost zpět do dnešního století? Organizátoři této akce doufali, že tato aktivita poučí děti o komunismu snadným a efektivním způsobem. Dnešní učebnice nepopisují, co se stalo v naší zemi po druhé světové válce, a mnozí dospělí nechtějí přinést toto citlivé téma zpět do našeho podvědomí. Děti se však snažily poučit od jejich rodičů a učitelů, aby si mohly představit, jaké to bylo žít v zemi, která utlačovala každého českého a slovenského občana v mnoha aspektech jejich života.

Projekt, který se téměř chýlí ke svému konci, se skládá z proslovů a veřejných prezentací, módní přehlídky, výstavy, která popisuje totalitu očima dětí, a koncertních vystoupení různých rockových kapel, které byly zakázány nebo nějak přispěly k boj proti tomuto režimu během komunismu.

Byla to ale módní přehlídka, která zaujala naši pozornost, neboť její výsledek vlastně nesouhlasil s prohlášením, že se “nehodí do dnešní století”. Jak již možná víte, každý módní trend se vrací a trendy, které byly populární v době totalitního režimu se rovněž navrátily. Studenti návrhářské školy, kteří se podíleli na této módní show, byli příjemně překvapeni, že naše módní éra minulého století nebyla tak “šedá” a tak nudná, jak si mysleli. Také našli mnoho aspektů těchto trendů v dnešních nákupních střediscích a módní buticích, což jim umožnilo se spojit s tímto obdobím “vzdálené“ minulosti.

Módní přehlídka, ale nebyla hlavním cílem této iniciativy. Studenti měli možnost hovořit s jejich rodiči, prarodiči a učitely o tom, jaké to bylo žít v komunistickém Československu. Shlédli jejich životy z různých úhlů pohledu, než jen z hlediska politických událostí, dozvědeli se o předešlé hospodářské situaci, spotřebitelských trendech, společenských akcích, životním stylu, morálce, hodnotách a dalších.

Rockový koncert bude posledním dílem této události a bude konat dne 13. listopadu 2009 v 7 hodin v Kulturní centrum Vltavská, Praha 7. Bude se skládat z různých kapel: Vladimír Mišík, Našrot, GARÁŽ, FPB, Majklův strýček, Vlasta Třešňák, a Tony Ducháček. Zde se můžete dozvědět více informací.

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“I’ve heard talks about having a bourgeois, or at best, a business origin,” says Viliam Sivek. “The truth is that during the first republic my grandfather was the director of the largest sugar refinery in Bohemia, but unfortunately I only remember that as a kid I only had one pair of pants and one pair of shorts. They were both versatile for everyday wear and festive occasions …”

Most people’s lives just pass through in predefined tracks, however, that was not the case with Viliam Sivek. His family saga is very interesting and would serve as enough material for a fairly extensive novel.

“My mother got married in Slovakia and actively participated in the fighting in the Slovak National Uprising. For example, when fighting by Strečno, she transferred prisoners to the ranks of the French partisans. She did so with 250 prisoners. In addition to a number of medals for bravery, she was awarded with one of the highest French medals; the one with a war cross and palm on it.”

The fifties came and along with them the Communists that had a different kind of appreciation for such heroic acts. My mother ended up in a Bolshevik prison and the family in exile in the Sudetenland. Fifteen years old, Viliam ended up as a coal miner, and after a tragic collapse in the mine he transferred to the railways. He could only imagine about getting a higher education. In the sixties his mother was rehabilitated in Prague and met with the French President Francois Miterand. This meeting was in effect organized by comrades and the family curse was even removed. The former shift worker became the director of the cultural house, and later he even became the director of the trade union hotel Pyramid in Prague on Brevnov. After a while, Sivek’s past caught up with him and somebody from the Communist party probably realized that Sivek’s past was not in line with someone that could be trusted with state secrets, and that was the end to the directorship. Viliam Sivek then started remotely studying with Professor Otakar Vavra at AMU productions, but the events of November 1989 (Velvet Revolution) lead him to entrepreneurship. In December 1989 he established the company EuroAgentur and became the founder of today’s biggest hotel chain in the Czech republic, EuroAgentur Hotels & Travel, Inc., and you can learn more about it at www.euroagentur.com.

“The main idea twenty years ago was not that difficult,” says Viliam Sivek. “We provided boarding and lodging facilities for clients that we would transport ourselves and provide them with complete service throughout their stay. We did not want to be in any way dependent on other service providers, so we could achieve the lowest prices while providing comfort. Since the establishment of EuroAgentur, it was clear that we need to have our own travel agency, transportation and many other things. “At the outset there was a rental building. This was a hostel that was owned by a company (Energovod) that we reconstructed and established in it’s place hotel Selsky dvur (Rustic Court). So, this is how we started to run our first hotel.

Then came the second hotel, third one and so on… Today, we operate a total of 45 hotels in the Czech Republic serving over 450 thousand clients.”

Crisis is a word repeated several times a day. Is it reflected precisely in the travel industry?
“This season has been the worst season for hoteliers throughout the whole time in the business. In the first four months of the year, we had a big decline in foreign clients. The entrepreneurs and traders just stopped traveling to the Czech Republic and organized group tourism was reduced significantly. The Summer Season was somewhat similar and led us to similar average hotel occupancy as the previous year; only one percent lower than in the previous year. In the Prague hotels we even increased our occupancy by four percent. But at the expense of lower profits since we drove occupancy up with big price reductions.”

Do you think that this situation will recover from the current situation? Will the tourism recover in the foreseeable future?
“Well, nobody can answer your question with any certainty right now. I think the crisis will last at least another two years, and tourism needs government assistance. The tourist industry involves more than a million people not counting follow-up services. Take in consideration the laundry services and how many linens hotels need to wash every day… If the situation continues the way it is now, many hotels and restaurants will disappear and I am not even mentioning travel agencies. The State’s own behavior is, however, to put it mildly, a bit strange. We focus on the middle to higher category of travelers from Russia. Russian tourists, in the Czech tourism, are a welcomed guest. They [Russians] have one of the highest spending rates per person per day. Russian tourists spend on average 3883 Crowns per day with an average length of stay that exceeds 5 days. The decrease of tourists from this country is significant.

Consulates in Russia have established a kind of visa center, which are levied even before the request reaches the consulate, where of course you pay again. We have evidence from our foreign partners that they often pay, for the processing of visas, more than 150 Euros per person and the waiting time exceeds more than 10 days. Our competitors, Germans, Poles, Austrians, Slovaks don’t have visa centers and visas are issued almost while you wait. All services are increasingly provided through the Internet and last minute trips are very popular. Since the clients can’t get visas to the Czech Republic, they change their plans and instead of Prague they take off to Paris… It’s a shame that during the 1st half of this year our country lost over 2 billion Crowns in sales. We are hurting ourselves… On the one hand, the city of Prague invested in a massive media advertising campaign abroad that cost almost eighty million crowns and still some clerk somewhere is trying to figure out a way to…”

During the time until the situation [Economic] returns to its former glory, you must somehow endure…
“There are several ways. We lowered the number of employees at headquarters, in the hotels or restaurants it is not possible, we must, at all costs, comply with set standards. Saving even on payroll means, simply, where at all possible but without deterioration in the quality of services. We can say that the situation has had us focus more on domestic tourism. We recently focused on families with children, we want to have hotels with something interesting for children to join us and have them be likely to return. We have, therefore, partnered with the provider franchise, an Austrian company Kinderhotels Europa Management - Marketings Kinder Hotel. We agreed that, in September they would come look at our hotel in Lipno, which is well cut out for the job. But their conditions are quite strict. One of them, even at a minimum price for accommodation and service, unacceptable in Czech standards of spending. To give you an idea, a family with one child in the most luxurious Kinderhotel abroad pays 223 Euros per night.

But do you know what’s interesting? Staying in the regions is now more expensive than in the capital city. Prague accommodation prices fell by up to fifty percent. Where else can you stay in a capital city for twenty Euro per day? For example, Paris hotel prices are around 250 euros per night and room is so small one cannot even turnaround in the small space, so you have to go out into the hallway…”

Viliam Sivek, unlike most people who become successful and famous, fostered a healthy sense, he remained a boy at heart, and kept the “sense of nonsense” as once Mr. Werich cleverly stated. His wife Katerina, in the municipality where they live, is trying with other people from the civic association called “Tudy z nudy” (Here by boredom) to restore the tradition of rural social events. This summer, the association prepared the second edition of “Neckyjády” pond sailings in non-traditional arks… Can you imagine any other serious and self-importance-blinded entrepreneur as Viliam Sivek, when he sailed through the pond on a floating island as a Chief Big Bob and was surrounded by graceful cannibals accompanied by the pounding of the drums? Board court Goethe long ago said that once a person starts to take themself too seriously, the seriousness is soon over and the victim is slowly becoming a clown…

Viliam Sivek was repeatedly awarded the title “Entrepreneur of the Year”, “Personality of the Year” and many others. Acts as chairman of the Association of Travel Agencies of the Czech Republic and his name is known among sports enthusiasts, where he is president of the hockey team Sparta.

This article by Pavel Pavek was traslated by Daniela Olszova and Paul Nelson

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An article by Josef Cermak about Josef Skvorecky, a well-known Czech writer, publisher, and expatriate, who spent much of his life in Canada and celebrates his 85th birthday tomorrow.

I don’t think there are many Czechs unfamiliar with the name Josef Škvorecký, even though they may not know that he was born in Nachod on September 27, 1924. And almost everyone of them knows one or two of his books, books such as The Cowards (Zbabělci), The Miracle Game (Mirákl), The Tank Corps (Tankový prapor), The Engineer of Human Souls (Příběh inženýra lidských duší), or the book I love best, The Swell Season (Prima sezona). If the majority of Škvorecký’ s most popular books focuses on a society, split by ideology, at a time of revolutionary changes, his literary pallet is much richer. The Swell Season is a sensitive portrayal of the maturing process not only of Josef Škvorecký, but his whole generation. We find a similar theme in his translation of Hemingway’s A Soldier’s home (he also translated poetry, including T.S. Elliot’s and wrote his own). An excerpt from his translation of the Hemingway story appears in a remarkable book (I received it as a gift from one of my dearest friends) Celý život (My whole life), selections from a diary 1948 - 1984, written by a man of strong courage and tragic destiny, Jan Zábrana:
“He would have loved to have a girl but did not want to spend a long time getting her. He did not want to get into the intrigue and the politics.. He did not want to do any courting. He did not want to tell any more lies. It wasn’t worth it. He did not want any consequences. He did not want any consequences ever again.”

Škvorecký’s words, in whatever form, provoked the admiration of some and hatred from others. Zábrana’s testimony:
” “Last night Errol (Škvorecký’s code-name , author’s note) spoke on Voice of America about Chester Himes. And so made it impossible to do anything here. But why then did he send me several weeks ago his study about him with a note that some of Himes’s work should be translated here. Didn’t we live here fifteen years in daily skirmishes with the censors - he knows what it was like - he must know that whatever he publicly connects with his name, is here automatically written off, he must know, that his name is here under anathema, that in the libraries they discarded not only his books but tens of English and American authors only because he wrote the epilogue and even just because he was shown as editor…”

Zábrana’s opening remarks may suggest a feeling of disappointment but he admired Škvorecký without reservation (I apologize if anyone should be shocked by Zábrana’s brutally eloquent choice of language):
“People who eternally attack Errol really get on my nerves. This is not the first time. I was with him for years almost daily and I know who he is, I know what he can do (as a writer). They still don’t have a clue. But this was always the fashion in Prague, the cowards always badmouthed those who were not afraid - one day because of this, other times for that. The people who badmouth most are those whose asses are sealed with the chestnuts from today’s, yesterday’s and the day before yesterday’s shit, and on their mugs parade the dignity and festive importance of a freshly festering hemorrhoid. Only I know who he is: the most honorable, the most reliable and the most unselfish man I ever knew.”

If I ever missed anything in Škvorecký’s work, it was an emotional dimension. I felt that he was an intellectual titan in whose work (and life) there was little room for emotion. I am still not sure about his work but I caught a glimpse of Škvorecký in two situations which convinced me that- as far as his life was concerned - I was wrong. Shortly after the fall of communism, a list of alleged communist police “collaborators” was published in Czechoslovakia. Zdena Salivarová-Škvorecká’s name was on the list, which was based on the police records, without providing (in most cases) any information about the “collaboration”. Zdena’s “collaboration” consisted of her speaking to police agents who tried to enlist her as a collaborator at a time when her father was already in exile, her brother in jail and whose husband’s position was shaky. The publication of the list inspired a small group of individuals to engage in mean attacks on Zdena. The attacks almost broke the woman who did so much for free Czech literature, the strongest weapon against communism. It was at that time that I saw a few words written for Zdena by her husband. There was so much tenderness and devotion in his words that they took my breath away. The second occasion which showed me Josef Škvorecký’s emotional make-up was his unconcealed distaste for people who during the communist era looked out for themselves, with the Communist party identity card in their pocket, and after the fall of the regime tried hard - and often successfully - to intrude into lead positions in democratic organizations.

Josef Škvorecký (and his wife Zdena) enriched Czech literature with more than just their own works. Perhaps equally important were their publishing activities. Two or three other publishing houses deserve praise for their effort to bring to light works of authors unprepared to sell their conscience but I don’t believe that anyone would deny the primacy in this endeavor to 68 Publishers (Sixty-Eight Publishers Corp.), the child of both Josef nad Zdena (perhaps more of Zdena, who inherited the publishing passion from her father).

Sixty-Eight Publishers Corp. was incorporated as a Canadian charitable corporation in 1972 with H. Gordon Skilling, Gleb Žekulin, Michael Schonberg (who is presently finishing Škvorecký’s biography) and Josef Čermák as members of the board of directors (largely formal positions). Sixty-Eight Publishers Corp. published over 220 titles (many of them smuggled from Czechoslovakia, most would otherwise never see the light of the day), including works of major importance such as Václav Černý’s Memoirs, the Poetic Works of Ivan Blatný, Jaroslav Seifert’s Poems, new books by Bohumil Hrabal, Arnošt Lustig, Václav Havel…In its early stages Sixty-Eight Publishers Corp. received grants from The Ford Foundation and The Roderick MacArthur Foundation. When it ceased publishing, after payment of minimal compensation to its volunteers, Sixty-Eight Publishers Corp. distributed its assets among community newspapers and organizations. It seems to me that Zdena and Josef Škvorecký’s contribution goes beyond literature. I see their lives and work as a courageous fight of two people for a more true and honest world.

Josef Škvorecký (now Professor Emeritus) also taught English literature at the University of Toronto, is a member of numerous professional and academic societies and holder of some of the most prestigious awards and prizes such as Gugenheim Fellow, the Neustadt International Prize for Literature, the Governor-General’s Award and the Order of Canada. He is also recipient - with his wife Zdena - of the Czehoslovak Order of the White Eagle, and several honorary doctorates. The most recent distinction was conferred on them on August 23, 2009 at the Kroupa Edenvale Aerodome by the Open Book Group, initiator of the movement for erecting in Ottawa a monument to the victims of communism, a painting of Jiří Kyser, “Prague musical”, engraved in crystal by Libor and Lucia Furbacher. And yes, Prague television just filmed his story Malá pražská Mata Hara” (Prague’s Little Mata Hara). Happy birthday and many happy returns.

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Česká verze zde

Čeští/slovenští expati (1): Dr. Přemysl Pelnář ZDE

Čeští/slovenští expati (2): Dr. Jarmila Knopová ZDE

Čeští/slovenští expati (3): Dr. Mirko Janeček ZDE

Čeští/slovenští expati (4): Jan Rubes ZDE

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By Eva Střížovská (CzechFolks.com PLUS) that founded the magazine Czech Dialogue to connect Czechs around the world. In her book “Howdy from Texas (Jak se mas?)”, she uniquely captured her experiences with Czech immigrants abroad and their lives far away from their home country.

Ennis Polka (Part 1)

One day about 3 years ago I got a phone call, „Hello, is it Eva? I am Jerry from Texas. My grandpa was Czech. I am holding your magazine Česky dialog in my hand and I love it. When are you coming to Texas?“

This is how I started corresponding with Jerry Elzner. Once in a while he called me, and once we met in Prague, when he came here with his wife Millie. That was the time I promised I really would come. When the time came, I wrote a few e-mails to Texans of Czech origin and I was touched by their friendly replies. They were all excited about meeting me; asked what I like to eat and drink and Frank Mikula from Dallas even offered to make a detailed itinerary of my trip and visits.

The trip was to start in Dallas, continue to Houston, Austin, and Corpus Christi, where Jerry lives. When I got off the plane, I was completely exhausted by the 13-hour flight and disappointed that I did not have my favorite window seat. Frank and his daughter Kimberley were waiting for me at the airport. After meeting them, my fatigue disappeared.

„Eva, you are the first visitor, who had not asked where J.R. lives“, said Frank laughing as we passed through Dallas. We both agreed that there were women in the Czech Republic as well as in the USA that watched that tv series for hours and came to believe it was real. Frank´s ancestors, as Jerry Elzner´s and most of the Czech Texans´, came from Moravia. His grandfather arrived in 1885 from Vesela near Zlín. A few other Czechs came as well. Here is the story:

Once upon a time, Mr. Josef Novak from Kladno came to visit his relatives in Texas. He had the address but was a little confused. He met a well built young man on the street and asked for directions in his broken English. The man looked down at him, pointed somewhere and said very distinctly: Já su Moravák, Češi bydlijó támhle,“ (I am Moravian, the Czechs live over there.)

That may have been the joke the Czech writer Josef Skvorecky once told me adding, “You should go to Texas some day so you could write about our people who had settled there. For example, the widely branched-out Spacek family lives there. They say, ‘You know our little Suzie, right? She sure got lucky in the movie business, didn´t she?’ By that they naturally mean the famous Hollywood movie star, Sisi Spacek.”

Video source (Zdroj videa): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGy5pZVsaH0

Thanks to Frank Mikula, I had started my pilgrimage to the homes and clubs of Czech Texans the very next day after my arrival in the town of Ennis. Located about 20 miles away from Dallas, where Frank´s family comes from (Pardon me, at least in the American not Moravian sense of the word). Frank showed me where his grandparents used to live (they both came over when they were only sixteen), then I saw his parent´s house where baby Frank had been born. (He is the second generation born in Texas). He showed me the place where his father used to work as well as the house where until recently his widowed mother had lived. He and his brother share taking good care of her and the house. We continued our trip to a home for the elderly, a very nice place with en extensive garden and complete nursing care, to see his mother. She welcomed us in her room equipped with all the comforts and spoke to us in very good Czech. She sure looks good for her ninety years!

In the meantime a gay and festive parade, celebrating Polka Fest, had started at the town square. Jodie Mikula´s band supplied the music (just a coincidence since a large number of Mikula´s had come there from Moravia during the past century). Down Main Street which runs through town, marched the Knights of Columbus in their uniforms, followed by clowns on stilts and on foot, charming maidens doing their dance, athletic youths doing summersaults and decorated floats bearing costumed citizens from near and far. Many participants were dressed in Czech traditional costumes; some wore Polka t-shirts, as did Debbie, Frank Mikula´s younger sister.

To be continued…

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Autorka: Eva Střížovská (CzechFolks.com PLUS), která založila magazín Český Dialog aby spojila Čechy na celém světě. V její knížce “Howdy from Texas (Jak se máš?)” zachytila její výjimečné zkušeností s českými emigrantz v zahraničí a jejich životy daleko od jejich rodné země.

Ennis Polka festival (Díl 1)

Jednoho dne asi před třemi lety zazvonil v redakci telefon: „Hallo, it this Eva? I am Jerry z Texasu. Můj dědeček byl Čech. Ja držet v ruce tvoje magazín. To se mi libi. Kdy ty přijedeš do Texas?“

Začali jsme si s Jerrym Elznerem psát, sem tam znovu zavolal a také jsme se jednou sešli v Praze, když se svou manželkou přicestoval. To už jsem slíbila, že opravdu přijedu. Když nastal čas, napsala jsem pár e-mailů na adresy Texasanů s českým původem a byla jsem až dojata jejich přátelskými odpověďmi. Všichni by se rádi se mnou sešli, ptali se, co ráda jím a piju a Frank J. Mikula z Dallasu mi dokonce nabídl udělat plán cesty a návštěv. (Pojedu zhruba řečeno z Dallasu do Houstonu, Austinu, San Antonia a do Corpus Christi, kde bydlí Jerry.)

Když jsem vylezla z letadla poničená třináctihodinovým letem a zklamáním, že jsem neměla své oblíbené okénko. Čekal na mne Frank se svou dcerou Kimberley. Hned se mi zlepšila nálada. „Evo, vy jste prvním návštěvníkem, který se neptá, kde bydlel J. R. (Džejár), pravil se smíchem František, když jsme projeli Dallasem. Shodli jsme se na tom, že ženy-slepice, stejně v ČR jako v USA, dokázaly na ten přiblblý seriál koukat celé hodiny a ještě mu věřit.
František, stejně jako Jerry Elzner a jako většina našinců v Texasu, je původu moravského. Jeho dědeček sem přišel v roce 1885 z Veselé u Zlína. Pár Čechů sem ale přišlo také, viz tuto „story“.

Přijel pan Josef Novák z Česka před časem navštívit svého příbuzného v Texasu. Měl adresu, ale trošku bloudil. Na ulici potkal urostlého černocha a ptal se ho lámanou angličtinou na cestu. Ten se na něho podíval ze své výšky, ukázal někam rukou a srozumitelně děl: „Já su Moravák, Češi bydlijó támhle.“

Možná, to je jen vtip, vyprávěl mi to český spisovatel žijící v Kanadě Josef Škvorecký a přitom dodal: „Měla byste se do Texasu někdy vypravit a napsat o našincích, kteří se tam usadili. Žije tam například rozvětvená rodina Špačkova. ‚Hele, ta naše Zuzka, ta to ale dobře chytla s tím filmováním, co?‘ říkají a myslí tím slavnou hollywoodskou hvězdu Sisi Spacek.“

Pouť za krajany jsem díky Františkovi Mikulovi začala hned druhý den po příjezdu v městečku Ennis, od Dallasu vzdáleném asi 20 mil, odkud jeho rodina pochází. (Tedy pardon, jen v tom americkém, nikoli moravském slova smyslu.) Ukázal mi, kde bydleli jeho prarodiče (oba sem přijel,i když jim bylo šestnáct let) a poté jeho rodiče, a kde se malý Frank narodil (on je druhá generace v Texasu narozená), kde pracoval tatínek, a také dům, v němž donedávna bydlela jeho ovdovělá maminka a o který se svorně, stejně jako o ni, s bratrem starají. Pak jsme zajeli za maminkou do pěkného domu s rozlehlou zahradou a s pečovatelskou službou. Maminka nás přivítala v pokoji s veškerým pohodlím a pěkně česky s námi mluvila. Na devadesát let vypadala skutečně dobře.

Na náměstí zatím začal slavnostní a veselý průvod u příležitosti Polka Fest. Vyhrávala kapela Jodie Mikuly (shoda jmen zcela náhodná, Mikulů z Moravy sem v předminulém století přišla celá řada.) Hlavní ulicí, vedoucí městečkem, kráčeli s vlajkami a v kostýmech Knights of Columbus, šaškové na chůdách i bez nich, tančily lepé děvy, metala kozelce gymnastická mládež, jely ozdobené povozy s ozdobenými občany z blízka i zdaleka. Mnoho účastníků bylo oblečeno v českých krojích, někteří v tričkách Polka, jako například Debbi, mladší sestřička Franka Mikuly.

Pokračování příště… 

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